svetikya Page 616
Page 616
Then he roared, "Go to hell!"
The last two golden rays of light in the sky landed, and a burly golden gong fell to the ground.
With the momentum of landing, he slammed his fist into the ground, raising dust and smoke within a hundred feet, his energy wantonly slaughtering everything in its path.
"Zhang Kaitai!"
"Let's have a good competition today and see who kills more!"
A hundred feet away, the last golden light transformed into hundreds of sword lights, scattering like Taoist flying swords among the corpse soldiers.
After slaughtering hundreds of corpse soldiers, these sword lights immediately coalesced into a large sword.
In his forties, with sharp, eagle-eyed eyes, Zhang Kaitai, wielding a greatsword, shouted, "Let's fight!"
"A fourth-rank martial artist can kill five thousand people before he is exhausted!"
"These are just zombie soldiers, I can kill them at will!"
Four night watchmen with golden gongs landed in front of the zombie soldiers, instantly halting their advance.
These undead soldiers swarmed forward, attempting to break through the area covered by the aura and rush towards the city gate.
However, the auras of the four fourth-rank martial artists were so powerful that they formed an indestructible wall of auras.
Neither the undead soldiers nor the living could advance any further.
Chuzhou City was besieged on three sides, and chaos reigned within the city itself.
Zheng Xinghuai headed south of the city and indeed saw garrison soldiers escorting civilians along the way.
The soldiers formed ranks, not knowing where they were headed.
"Stop! What are you doing?" Zheng Xinghuai shouted to stop them.
The heavily armed soldiers stared at him coldly, without uttering a word.
Zheng Xinghuai asked again, but still no one answered.
These soldiers are clearly suspicious; normal soldiers would never ignore them.
When encountering unruly soldiers, they might even have to argue with civil officials.
Even worse, some dared to change their superiors.
There weren't many good officials in the Great Feng Dynasty, but Zheng Xinghuai was one of them.
His family was very poor when he was young. His mother made a living by washing clothes and doing embroidery for well-off families.
His widowed mother painstakingly saved enough money for his tuition and for him to enter the Imperial Academy.
He entered the Imperial College at the age of 16 and studied diligently for ten years.
In the 19th year of the Yuanjing era, he passed the imperial examination with flying colors and became a second-class Jinshi.
He rushed back to his hometown without stopping, wanting to bring his mother to settle in the capital and bring glory to the family.
But what he saw was his mother's low grave.
My widowed mother has been dead for many years, and I have never told him. The letters were written by relatives on my behalf.
Zheng Xinghuai knelt before his mother's grave for a day and a night.
Zheng Xinghuai's official career was not smooth. Because he refused to compromise his principles, he offended the Grand Secretary at the time and was demoted to Chuzhou in the north, where he became an eighth-rank county magistrate.
He walked along the ridges of the fields in Chuzhou, looking at the seedlings trampled by the iron cavalry.
He walked on the official road, looking at the corpses that had been devoured by the barbarians, leaving only mutilated remains.
He went into the mountains and saw the people who had luckily escaped the disaster, looking at their poor and weathered faces.
Zheng Xinghuai thought of his mother who had passed away many years ago.
From that moment on, he didn't want to leave Chuzhou.
Because he poured all his energy and effort into this land.
He worked so hard, often staying up all night to handle government affairs.
Time flies, and eighteen years have passed in the blink of an eye. He has devoted most of his life to Chuzhou.
Chuzhou City was Zheng Xinghuai's second hometown.
But now, something truly terrifying seems to have happened here.
Zheng Xinghuai's heart sank to the bottom, and a strong sense of foreboding welled up in his mind.
Without continuing to entangle with the lower-ranking soldiers, he suddenly cracked his whip and galloped wildly along the street towards the south of the city.
Following the soldiers along the way, Zheng Xinghuai quickly arrived at his destination.
He saw a sea of black heads, roughly estimated to be over 100,000.
There were ordinary people, merchants, and even clerks from government offices.
The group of people were gathered on a wasteland in the south of the city, shoulder to shoulder.
Thousands of soldiers, fully armed and carrying heavy bows or crossbows, surrounded the group.
Zheng Xinghuai's gaze swept across the room, locking onto the commander Que Yongxiu, who was perched high on horseback, and the dozen or so secret agents shrouded in black robes beside him.
The Spy of the Prince of Zhenbei
Zheng Xinghuai narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Duke Protector of the Nation, what are you doing?"
"Provincial Governor Zheng, you've come at the right time." Que Yongxiu's one eye looked at him coldly.
"Lord Zheng, the barbarians repeatedly invade the border, burning, killing, and looting. Do you know why?"
Zheng Xinghuai didn't understand why he asked that question, and frowned.
"What does this have to do with you gathering the people?"
Que Yongxiu pointed his spear at the hundreds of thousands of people and laughed loudly:
"Of course it's related, as a citizen of the Great Feng Dynasty."
I will dedicate myself to the peace and stability of the Great Feng border, even unto death, and sacrifice my life for the continued prosperity of the Great Feng state.
Provincial Governor Zheng asks, "Does what I have said make sense?"
"baffling."
Just as Zheng Xinghuai was about to reprimand them, he suddenly saw Que Yongxiu spur his horse and charge towards the people.
Zheng Xinghuai's eyes were bloodshot: "Que Yongxiu, how dare you indiscriminately kill civilians? Have you gone mad?"
At the same time, thousands of armored soldiers drew their bows and aimed them at the innocent civilians who had gathered together.
Zheng Xinghuai watched as Que Yongxiu's spear was about to pierce a young man's chest.
He roared and screamed wildly, but was stopped by Que Yongxiu's men.
"No!"
"Don't kill the civilians!"
Que Yongxiu's spear pierced the young man's chest.
However, a crisp "clang" was heard!
"Who are you to dare wear armor without permission? You deserve to die!" Que Yongxiu was enraged and ashamed.
"Stab!"
The young man tore open his cloth robe, revealing a gleaming bronze gong underneath.
A black night watchman's uniform appeared before Que Yongxiu!
In that instant, Que Yongxiu's expression changed drastically, as if he had seen something terrifying!
"Sizzle, sizzle..."
Among the common people, countless sounds of clothes being torn could be heard.
Gold, silver, and black robes, along with numerous gong-shaped ritual implements, appeared among the people.
"Kengkengkengkeng..."
Hundreds of long swords slammed into the magical artifact on his chest, creating a deafening roar.
These loud noises drowned out the clamor of the people, sounding exceptionally powerful!
"If you have a clear conscience during the day, you have nothing to fear from the night watchman!"
It was a resounding and deafening revelation!
"The night watchman is on duty; unrelated personnel, squat down!"
Que Yongxiu's eyes blazed with fury, and he immediately spurred his horse forward, shouting, "Fire the arrows!"
"Fire the arrow quickly!"
The undead soldiers raised their bows and crossbows, nocking arrows.
Just then, a deep yet stirring Buddhist chant arose.
Hundreds of thousands of people were enveloped in golden Buddha light.